


I will not ask you where you came from. I will not ask you, neither should you.

by imadetheline



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Character Study, Dark Will Graham, Fluff, Hannibal Lecter Loves Will Graham, Idk you decide, Introspection, Kinda?, M/M, Will Graham Loves Hannibal Lecter, but it could just be Hannibal's perception, hints of Will isn't quite human
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:15:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26556448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imadetheline/pseuds/imadetheline
Summary: Will is something other. The world doesn’t understand him and so it doesn’t apply to him.Hannibal likes to think he is better at understanding him. He's not sure if he's right.
Relationships: Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter
Comments: 2
Kudos: 45





	I will not ask you where you came from. I will not ask you, neither should you.

**Author's Note:**

> title from hozier's like real people do
> 
> just a short drabble I wrote but I really like it so I'm posting it here. Hope you like it!

He hears his door open with a click and he’s wide awake. The tension drops from his body as the shuffling of socked feet moves towards the bed. Will’s familiar scent of snow and pine and something unnameable, unencumbered by his terrible aftershave, drifts towards him. He thinks maybe the aftershave was another way of blending, fading. He doesn’t open his eyes, content to lay in the darkness and let Will come closer.

The bed sinks next to him and the sheets shift as Will slides under them. He doesn’t speak. The silence is vast and unbreakable. Hannibal opens his eyes. Will stares back at him, eyes bright in darkness. Hannibal’s not sure what light they’re reflecting, but he’s long conceded that the universe treats Will differently.

Will’s gaze drifts to the sheets between them. Hannibal’s eyes follow but slowly drift back up to Will’s unguarded face. His fingers itch to card through the dark curls spread across the pillow and tilt his chin so he’s looking at Hannibal. Will continues to contemplate the sheets, his eyes down turned and searching. The bare sheet stretches across the space between them. The divide has never felt so large, a gaping chasm waiting to pull him down if he tries to cross it, to touch Will’s face. 

Will’s eyes flick back up to him and he reaches across the sheets like it’s nothing, until his hand is resting near Hannibal’s, frighteningly close, but not touching. Hannibal’s breath catches and the space between them is just inches, has never been any more than that, not with Will. Will who is exempt from the world.

Will’s hand doesn’t move. Neither do his eyes, floating across Hannibal’s face. He’s not waiting for anything or expecting anything. He just is.

Hannibal shifts his hand until his fingers are resting across Will’s. His skin is cold. Hannibal doesn’t mind. It’s the inverse to the fire under his own skin.

Will closes his eyes. 

Hannibal doesn’t.

Will is something other. The world doesn’t understand him and so it doesn’t apply to him. Hannibal likes to think he is better at understanding him. He’s not sure he’s right.

It’s easy to forget Will’s otherness when he walks groggily into the kitchen late in the morning or when he smiles while he pets a dog. That’s when the universe seems to finally have figured him out; Hannibal has almost figured him out. 

He gazes at Will’s face, open and yet a mystery in sleep.

And then in little moments in between, in these liminal spaces where time loses its claim, Will’s otherness is clear, as clear as it can be, and Hannibal knows he understands nothing. When Will’s eyes flash as he holds a knife, the same way they flash when his cold skin brushes against the warmth of Hannibal. When he looks at someone and his eyes are empty for a moment before he remembers to return to them. He used to avoid eye contact but he has no need to anymore: no one dares hold his gaze for fear of seeing the darkness that lurks in his irises, like a creature waiting for the right reason to strike.

Will diverges from the universe somewhere between understanding and forgiveness. Hannibal knows somewhere between those is where Will loves him.

Will’s eyes open as if he hears everything Hannibal’s never said. Hannibal isn’t surprised but he isn’t prepared either. He never is. When he speaks, Will’s words are less a prayer and more a condemnation. Condemning what, Hannibal isn’t sure. He thinks it’s him. The words don’t break the silence so much as slice through it, the air parting to ensure they are heard, the universe bending around Will’s intentions, “I didn’t want to be alone.”

It’s oh so human, but falling from Will’s lips the words are horrifyingly, beautifully, Will. And to be Will is to be inhuman. 

Will’s hand is freezing under his as the cold works its way into Hannibal’s hand and through his veins. He doesn’t reply, knowing his words would break the silence. That is not one of the rules the universe exempts him from as it does Will. There are other gifts it grants him but this is Will’s realm. And he is happy to be invited in. He exhales slowly and Will’s eyes sparkle in the nonexistent light before they close again. 

His breathing doesn’t change but Hannibal can tell he’s sleeping: a gift, not from the universe, but from Will.

Hannibal doesn’t sleep. He watches Will’s face in the darkness and the silence as the cold creeps up his arm, edging closer to his heart. When sunlight begins to peek from behind the curtains, the cold slowly recedes as Will’s hand warms under his. When Will wakes, his eyes shine in the too real light and he smiles drowsily. Hannibal smiles back softly.

Will’s too other to ever be fully human but Hannibal thinks maybe this is his most human. Or most other. He’s not sure. Will’s a strange mix of both and though Hannibal’s understanding falters, his love never does.

**Author's Note:**

> I might write a second chapter from Will's perspective about Hannibal so please let me know what you thought! I crave validation.
> 
> If you guys liked it leave a comment! They make my day! if you guys have ideas for other one-shots send me an ask on tumblr [here](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/imadetheline) or just yell about stuff with me. I also have another tumblr [here](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/soithinkicanwrite) for all my writing stuff and one [here](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/madness-shared-by-two) for everything hannibal. Thanks for reading!


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